Apparent cyberattack disrupts unemployment benefits in multiple states

An apparent cyberattack this week on Florida-based IT provider Geographic Solutions has disrupted unemployment and workforce benefits for thousands of people in multiple states and Washington, DC.

Unemployment payments are delayed for people in Tennessee, where about 12,000 people rely on the program, and in Nebraska, according to statements from state labor departments. In Washington, the outage has prevented residents from filing new paid family leave claims and conducting job searches using a tool provided by Geographic Solutions.

In a statement, Geographic Solutions described “anomalous activity” on its computer network but did not specify the cause; the Nebraska Department of Labor called it a “cyberattack.”